Karaz-a-Karak – Valaya Plaza

East of the Hall of Kings lay the Valaya Plaza, a small town within the great capital of Karaz-a-Karak. In ancient times of peace and prosperity the Valaya Plaza was the economic hub of Karaz-a-Karak. Merchants from all around Karak Ankor would come to the Valaya Plaza to showcase exotic wares and exquisitely crafted arms and armor from precious metals. Every day was a different spectacle of glistening shields, mighty hammers, and foreign fabrics. The market square of the Valaya Plaza however was but one section of this prestigious district. Circling the square were dozens of inns for weary travelers. In the southern corner of the district lay the Oath Vault, a massive repository of gold and heavily guarded bank whose vaults penetrated deep into the earth where few were privileged to enter. To the north of the Oath Vault lay the Oath Hall, a massive building carved into the mountain serving as the guild quarters for the elite warriors of the High King. And at the far north of the district lay its most famous attraction, the Brewmaster’s Brewery.Founded by the most famous brewmaster of all, Joseph Bugman, the brewery is not only where famous ales are produced, but also the most lively tavern in all of Karak Ankor. Tables carved by master carpenters circle fireplaces and braziers carved by master masons. To have a piece of ones work in the Brewmaster’s Brewery is the greatest honor for any trades-dwarf, and for many of the guilds of Karak Ankor, it is indeed the requirement for a journey crafts-dwarf to get a work of theirs in the Brewmaster’s Brewery; only then can they become a master of their guild. It is rumored that every now and then Joseph Bugman returns to Karaz-a-Karak to make a special patch of brew, but when it is no one knows.

Oath Hall
Should you choose to explore Valaya’s Plaza then you have the option of entering the Oath Hall. The Oath Hall is the guild hall for the dwarven capital and it does not fall under the rally flag rules. Defenders will continue to pour forth from the Oath Hall until the guild-master has been slain. The guild master is an Oathbearer within the hall of hero level and killing him will require the invaders to battle their way to him. Unlike other buildings in Karaz-a-Karak, the Oath Hall cannot be put to the torch, but you can destroy some guild standards if you like. Should you defeat the guild-master, he has a chance of dropping a rare jewelry piece.

Brewmaster’s Brewery
The Brewmaster’s Brewery is located at the north end of Valaya’s Plaza. It is a massive tavern combined with a refinery and is fiercely defended by dwarven rangers. Upon entering the building one is prompted to destroy the ale refining equipment, which is in fact many different pieces of equipment spread across the length of the room. Throughout the room behind overturned tables and kegs the rangers are situated to best avoid taking ranged damage from the invaders while repelling them, so in many ways this is a close quarters fight. At the end of the room massive iron gates bar you from the cellar which stretches miles into the depth of the mountain, seemingly an endless paradise of precious reserves of ale. Once all the pieces of brewing equipment have been destroyed a angry dwarf can be heard from the depth of the brew cellar.

Joseph Bugman
Joseph Bugman is a level 58 Longbeard lord in charge of the strange rangers;strange for the reason that they spend most of their time above ground in the mountain passes. He wields a great hammer infused with four powerful runes: The Master Rune of Snori Spangelhelm which decreases the chance that his attacks will be blocked or parried by 15%; the Master Rune of Breaking which allows him to lower his opponents weapon skill on hit; the Master Rune of Fear which causes all opponents within 40 feet of him to gain morale and action points at a lower rate; and the Rune of Iron which increases his resistances by ‘x’. In terms of unique attacks or crowd controls he doesn’t have any, the difficulty in the fight lay in the method he must be fought. Around the room are several steins and kegs with Bugman’s XXXXX which Joseph Bugman will move towards and drink, if he drinks it his damage is temporarily increased by 50% and he is slightly healed. There are three ways to counter this – destroy the kegs/steins as they spawn (potentially falling short on the dps), attempt to disarm him while he is drinking his ale (but his parry rate is much higher while he is drinking), or drink the ale yourself! Now you’re wondering what happens when you, as an evil destruction foe (presumably greenskin), drink the ale. As any ale, it has merry effects, and rather un-merry side effects. If you drink the ale your damage and healing output is increased by 10% for 15 seconds, and unless you are using creme-de-la-creme weapons this buff is very helpful in helping defeat Joseph Bugman. However, when you drink Bugman’s ale you generate more aggro from him for stealing his ale. Also after your buff from the ale ends you receive a 1 minute debuff called ‘Intoxicated’ which in itself doesn’t necessarily have negative side effects, it just causes your character to be slowly pulled towards a stein or keg as your body longs for more. If you drink a second time within the Intoxicated buff your damage is increased by 20% for 15 seconds, but you now have two Intoxicated buffs – the effect of the second being that your movement speed is reduced by 40%. Drink ale a third time while Intoxicated and your damage is increased by 30% for 15 seconds but you gain double vision meaning you may be shooting a wall… or a keg… or your friend… you don’t know. Drink a fourth time and your damage is increased by 40% for 15 seconds but at the end of it you pass out and are knocked down for a few seconds until cleansed three times. The moral of the story being you can only drink so much before it over powers you, but drinking it is the ‘easiest’ way around the fight because if you don’t drink it then Joseph Bugman will, and his damage will go up. Once you’ve had Bugman’s Best, it keeps calling you back.
Once you have defeated Joseph Bugman he has an ‘x’% chance of dropping a repairable Monarch Jewelery piece for healers. He also has an ‘x’% chance of dropping a bow for Squig Herders – “Da Straight Shoota”.

The Lore
Joseph Bugman is the finest Brewmaster of all of Dwarf-dom. But then the greenskins came and destroyed his brewery and killed his kinsfolk. He and the brewery works, all who lost someone in the war, swore an oath against the greenskins and became the rangers, forever stalking the mountain passes and swooping down on the greenskins. Now the rangers form a sort of ‘first alert’ system for the remaining Holds. If greenskins approach, they warn the hold with signals and gather to hold them off while the Hold prepares. I have made him a Longbeard because he indeed fits in this category although he would more fit in with the ranger profile in the Dwarf Army Book. As a treat here is one final picture, once again of Karaz-a-Karak before it was removed from the game, this time of the bank.